Bird feeders known in the art must generally be refilled regularly. Filling a bird feeder can be an unpleasant task, especially in inclement weather. An automatic bird feeder which attempts to address this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,361 to Holliday. This feeder is comprised of an underground storage tank, a bird feeder, a screw conveyor which carries feed up from the storage tank to the feeder, and pendulum operated switches in the feeder and in the underground storage tank. The feeder disclosed in the Holliday patent has mechanical parts, such as the pendulum switches, which may wear out or fail in inclement weather. In addition, because the storage tank is buried in the ground, access to the storage tank may be difficult in inclement weather.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an automatic bird feeder which permits a large quantity of bird feed to be stored therein, permitting refilling of the feeder to be scheduled for the most favorable conditions.